Sleep Update

We met with the sleep doc last week Wednesday - I can't believe I haven't written an update about it yet!

The doc was a really nice guy and I was impressed with how excellent he was with Elijah. When Elijah came over with his slobbery hands, wanting to touch the papers on the doc's lap, the doctor simply patted Elijah's little head as a grandfather would. He wasn't dismissive or scared that Elijah would get him dirty (at least he didn't show it). He was kind and I really appreciated that.

The appointment was fairly short – we discussed Elijah's history and the doc recommended a sleep study to be performed (as we had hoped he would). We were grateful that he is taking our concerns seriously and we left the office feeling heard and understood.

The doctor's first inclination is that the de-saturations might be caused by reflux. If anything is coming back up into his esophagus, it could cause Elijah to stop breathing for short periods of time. A pulse-ox can produce inaccurate results, but the doc seemed to think Elijah's results were accurate.

We were given a tour of the sleep center and made an appointment for August 5^th. We're hoping that someone cancels before August so we can complete the study sooner. I am not looking forward to this study – and that's an understatement. The study will be over 18 hours and will start at 11 am. They have to put a probe down Elijah's nose into his esophagus to measure acidity. He won't be able to do much of his favorite activity – walking – since he'll be hooked up to all sorts of monitoring systems – the worst being the aforementioned probe to monitor his stomach acid. I have no idea how we're going to keep him calm and in one room – not walking – for that long. I've decided not to worry about it until the time comes, or at least try not to. J

Well, I think that's it. A study is scheduled; we have no new answers to our questions at this time.

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